scholarly journals Direct Provision, Rights and Everyday Life for Asylum Seekers in Ireland during COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 140
Author(s):  
Fiona Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
International Protection ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees

This article considers the impact of COVID-19 on international protection applicants in the Irish asylum system. It presents a critical reflection on the failings of direct provision and how the experience of COVID-19 has further heightened the issues at stake for asylum seekers and refugees living in Ireland. In Ireland, international protection applicants are detained in a system of institutionalized living called direct provision where they must remain until they receive status. Direct provision centres offer substandard accommodation and are often overcrowded. During the pandemic, many asylum seekers could not effectively socially isolate, so many centres experienced COVID-19 outbreaks. This article examines these experiences and joins a community of scholars calling for the urgent end to the system of direct provision.

scholarly journals The Impact of Refugee Camps on the Process of Migration Towards Europe: An Assessment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Sebastian Paul
Keyword(s):  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Living Conditions ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
Migration Studies ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Mass Migration ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees ◽  
The Eu

In recent years, migration studies focused very much on forced displacement, especially after the influx of migrants to Europe in 2015. Some European countries accept immigrants from non-EU regions. Others blame migrants for taking advantage of Europe’s social systems and follow restrictive policy measures. The EU is as divided as never before in its history, and the process of migration to Europe has become more critical. In this context, the characteristics, fleeing reasons, and refugees’ and asylum seekers’ journeys are relevant. This dissertation looks at these factors in the framework of refugee camps. Even though refugee camps are frequently an essential part of the journey of asylum seekers and refugees on their way to Europe, there is only limited literature in this field. Thus, the research aims to analyze migration and refugee movements as a consequence of the miserable and inhumane conditions in refugee camps and identifies indicators for (mass) migration to Europe. For this purpose, and since everyone speaks about migrants, but not with migrants, I conducted quantitative and qualitative research in 192 fully-structured and 17 semi-structured interviews. The research provides a comprehensive comparison of the living conditions in non-EU and EU refugee camps, analyses their role in the process of migration to Europe, and emphasizes the differences between different camps. Furthermore, the characteristics of asylum seekers and refugees and their motives for coming to Europe were examined. The findings of the study show who these people are and from where they originate. There is evidence for the hypothesis that the majority of people flee because of severe danger (e.g., armed conflicts) and are not ‘economic migrants’ despite the claims of nationalistic governments in the EU. However, there is evidence for the hypothesis that improved living conditions in camps could reduce mass migration movements to Europe. The dissertation enhances the discussion of refugee camps in migration studies, provides new perspectives and insights about the journey of asylum seekers and refugees to Europe, and people’s characteristics leaving their country of origin.

scholarly journals Can Community-Based Social Protection Interventions Improve the Wellbeing of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in the United Kingdom? A Systematic Qualitative Meta-Aggregation Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 194
Author(s):  
Michelle L James
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees

The Sustainable Development Goals 2030 call for an end to poverty in all its forms everywhere through the adoption of integrated social protection policies. However, recent literature suggests an implicit and explicit discrimination towards asylum seekers and refugees (ASRs) in United Kingdom social policy, leading to high rates of destitution, poor health and isolation. Due to the limited nature of UK government support, many ASRs become involved with semi-formal and informal social protection. This systematic literature review synthesizes existing qualitative literature that documents the impact of these interventions on the wellbeing of adult ASRs in the United Kingdom. The literature offers useful insights into asylum seeker and refugee perceptions of wellbeing, agency, and support responsibility, and how their interaction with social protection providers constrains or enables the realization of their fundamental human needs. The findings demonstrate that government support is inadequate to meet the needs of many asylum seekers and refugees, leading to disempowerment, lack of agency and exploitation. Positive wellbeing outcomes are linked to semi-formal and informal interventions, summarized into six categories: the positive impact of volunteering; physical space and intentional gathering; practical and material support; training and skills development; solidarity, inclusion and understanding; and peer support and advice.

scholarly journals Mononormativity and Related Normative Bias in the UK Immigration System: The Experience of LGBTIQ+ Asylum Seekers

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rose Gordon-Orr
Keyword(s):  
Romantic Relationships ◽  
Coming Out ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Gay Identity ◽  
Legal Regulations ◽  
Lifestyle Choices ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees

This article examines the impact that different normative understandings of sexuality and relationships have on LGBTIQ+ people’s experience of the UK Immigration System, with a particular focus on mononormative conceptions that privilege forms of coupledom. By examining legal regulations and case judgments, the mononormative bias is shown to disadvantage LGBTIQ+ asylum seekers and make it difficult for those not seen to be in long-term romantic relationships to have their sexuality acknowledged and their claims for asylum upheld. The article considers how mononormativity intersects with heteronormative stereotypes and narrow homonormative prescriptions of gay identity such as “coming out” or expressing particular lifestyle choices. Taken together these normativities combine in a culture of disbelief in the immigration system that negates the self-identification of LGBTIQ+ asylum seekers and refugees by requiring them conform to norms that do not reflect the diversity of queer lives and experiences.

Asylum seekers and refugees in Northern Ireland: the impact of post-migration stressors on mental health

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
F. Murphy ◽  
U. M. Vieten
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Survey Methods ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees

Abstract Objectives: In recent years, Northern Ireland has seen an increase in the numbers of asylum seekers and refugees. Given its status as a post-conflict region, this is a relatively new phenomenon for the area. Northern Ireland is also the only part of the United Kingdom (UK) without a refugee integration strategy. In 2016, we conducted an extensive study for the racial equality unit of the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister in Stormont on the everyday life experience of asylum seekers and refugees in Northern Ireland with view to understanding how service delivery and notions of integration/inclusion impact. Methods: This was a mixed methods study using quantitative survey methods and in-depth semi-structured interviews with service providers, asylum seekers, refugees and new UK citizens. We examined a range of service provision such as education, labour, legal provision, housing and health. Results: This article examines the issue of mental health with respect to asylum seekers and refugees in Northern Ireland. The results delineate how asylum seekers and refugee’s mental health is dramatically impacted by the asylum system in Northern Ireland (and hence, the UK) and the dearth thereof, of particular and necessary supports and access issues in the space of health and mental health in Northern Ireland. We describe how post-migration stressors experienced through the UK asylum system further compound mental health issues. The findings provide a focus on the asylum system, housing and employment. Conclusions: Our research found a dearth of mental health supports in Northern Ireland and concluded that the asylum system in the UK (as a form of post-migration stressor) further exacerbates and contributes to poor mental health and well-being for many asylum seekers and refugees.

scholarly journals Porous Nation: From Ireland's 'Haemorrhage' to Immigrant Inundation - A Critique of Ireland's Immigration Act, 1999

Refuge ◽  
1999 ◽  
pp. 19-25
Author(s):  
Jason King
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Illegal Immigration ◽  
Rhetorical Strategies ◽  
Host Society ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Recent Immigration ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees ◽  
Over Time

This paper examines the impact of metaphors of fluidity for migratory processes upon the development of public opinion in Ireland, both to trace the effects of historical Irish out-migration on perceptions of recent immigration, and to demystify rhetorical strategies that stigmatize asylum- seekers and refugees in Ireland as part of an expanding pool of illegal immigration, rather than as victims of persecution in need of intemational protection. The focus throughout the discussion is upon the range of different discourses underlying these metaphors of fluidity and how they become transformed over time, as well as their influence in engendering public hostility towards first emigration and then asylum-applicants and refugees coming into the country, following Ireland's transition from an 'emigrant nursery' to an immigrant host society.

scholarly journals A Proposal for Malaysia’s Asylum Act

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-81
Author(s):  
Hench Goh ◽  
James Leong ◽  
Adam Haris Othman ◽  
Yee Ching Kho ◽  
Chung Yin Wong
Keyword(s):  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
International Protection ◽  
Practical Solution ◽  
Legal Principles ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Right ◽  
Refugees And Asylum Seekers ◽  
Asylum Seekers And Refugees ◽  
Poor Management

Asylum is granted to people in search for international protection from persecution or serious harm in their own country. The right to asylum for refugees in Malaysia is far from realization and in dire need of a practical solution. Due to the lack of a proper enactment of Asylum Act, asylum seekers are to deal with denial of basic rights. Asylum seekers are also denied of education and healthcare due to high cost since these are not provided by the government. This article discusses the need for a proper enactment of Asylum Act in Malaysia in relation to the rising numbers of asylum seekers and refugees in the country. In this research, a comparative analysis between Malaysia’s existing laws dealing with asylum and the law of Australia, United Kingdom, Indonesia, and European Union was carried out. It was found that these countries have developed their legal framework for asylum considerably and could legally accommodate the influx of refugees into their respective countries, in contrast to Malaysia’s increasingly poor management of the refugees and asylum-seekers. The study suggests the possibility for the adoption of recommended legal principles from those countries into the proposed Malaysian Asylum Act.

The “Internal” Dimension of the Safe Country Concept: the Interpretation of the Safe Third Country Concept in the Dublin System by International and Internal Courts

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-113
Author(s):  
Sílvia Morgades-Gil
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Shared Responsibility ◽  
Mutual Trust ◽  
International Protection ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
International Instruments ◽  
Refugees And Asylum Seekers ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The non-refoulement principle has been interpreted extensively as regards what kind of threats prevent removal to another country through the interpretation of the international instruments for the protection of human rights. Nevertheless, authors and institutions acknowledge that this principle does not prohibit the removal to a safe country and thus that a number of States participate in a system of shared responsibility, in which refugees and asylum seekers are transferred from one country to another in order to try to obtain (the Dublin EU system) or to benefit from international protection (resettlement). The academic literature has extensively addressed the meaning of the concept of the safe third country. This contribution is aimed at analyzing the application of this concept within a system where all States are supposed to be safe for all asylum seekers, and the principle of mutual trust and equivalence of protection applies. The paper reviews the safe country concept in the context of the Dublin system and examines when and why International, European and internal courts and other institutions have considered that one of the States participating in the system was not safe ad intra. Some final thoughts consider the impact that the analysis may have on the principle of mutual trust that is at the heart of the area of Freedom, Security and Justice.

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